In a span of a day, Bryan Stork was reportedly going to be released by the Patriots, reportedly traded to the Redskins, and reportedly contemplating retirement. Finally, on Wednesday evening, the Redskins and Patriots provided a little clarity.

The Patriots did not release Stork, their 2014 fourth-round pick. They traded him to the Redskins for an undisclosed draft pick, which both teams confirmed. Neither team, however, addressed the issue of Stork's potential retirement. According to the league's transaction wire, the undisclosed pick is a seventh-round conditional selection, via NFL.com.

Here's how the trade went down, via the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe:


To be clear: Stork, a center, is a member of the Redskins, but might not be a member of the NFL for long.

According to The Washington Post, Stork told the Redskins that he might retire before the trade was completed, which caused a delay in the deal becoming official. Now it's official, but Stork's decision apparently isn't.

So, why would Stork, a 25-year-old who started in a Super Bowl as a rookie, retire? The tempting answer is that Stork loathed the idea of playing for the Redskins so much that he decided to walk away from the sport entirely. But there's no way to know if that's the actual answer.

The answer could be related to Stork's health. As The Washington Post reported in its story, Stork dealt with concussion problems at Florida State, missed the beginning of last season due to a concussion, and suffered another one during training camp this summer.

In the past couple seasons, other relatively young players have walked away from the game because of health concerns. Stork could be the next player to do so -- if he retires and if that decision is, in fact, related to his health.

But, just earlier this month, Stork gave no indication he was concerned about his well being.

If Stork retires, he'll suffer financially. According to Pro Football Talk, he'll lose a total of $838,500.

If Stork doesn't retire, he'll join a roster in Washington that already features a starting center in Kory Lichtensteiger, 31. He would, however, provide the team with some youth and depth. Stork has started 17 games in his career.

From the Patriots' perspective, the trade means they'll be rolling with 2015 undrafted rookie David Andrews at center. Andrews started 11 games last season. According to Howe, he was Tom Brady's preferred choice at center.

Stark was already passed on the depth chart by Andrews in late July and might've made his situation worse when he was then kicked out of a joint practice with the Bears for fighting.

As CBS Boston reported, it was Stork's second practice ejection of the summer.